CONFIDENTIAL

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The purpose of this paragraph is to enable the Government

to make the nationality provisions necessary as a

consequence of the UK ceasing to have sovereignty or

jurisdiction over Hong Kong in 1997, and to fulfil the

commitments made in the UK memorandum which was presented to the Chinese Government when the agreement was signed.

It enables a subsequent Order or Orders in Council to be

made to ensure that British Dependent Territories

citizenship cannot be acquired or retained on or after 1

July 1997 by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong and to

create a new form of nationality which may be acquired

before that date by persons who are BDTCs by virtue of

such a connection.

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I should like to say a word first about the proposed procedure. There

There was some criticism of the Government in

another place for adopting the Order in Council procedure

for dealing with nationality in this Bill.

It was

suggested that the nationality provisions should either be

dealt with in full in the Bill, or else omitted entirely from the Bill, and dealt with in a separate Act

Act.]

CONFIDENTIAL

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